Nothing But Trouble (27 page)

Excerpt:

Sara brought her sedan to a full stop at the gate announcing The Double T Ranch.  It had been a long time since she'd visited Hank and Corrine Promise.  Their spread was bigger than she'd remembered.  But then a lot of changing happens in nine years.  Mandy had mentioned hard times last year when she'd visited, something to do with Hank's health, but by the look of things it seemed the hard times had past.  She was glad for that.

She hit the gas pedal and pushed past the gate.  A long string of cars and pickups trucks lined the side of the drive.  As she approached, she saw a large green and white striped tent set up in the back yard with tables and chairs arranged beneath it.  It wasn't until she got closer that she saw a team of people engrossed in erecting a post and beam barn.

  It was a real honest to goodness old-fashioned barn raising.  Now that was something you didn't see every day in Los Angeles.

There were people crawling all over the yard like ants picking up crumbs at a picnic.  Sara parked her rental at the end of the line and walked along the row of cars leading to the festivities, passing grazing cows.  The smell of manure and freshly mown hay drying in the sun filled her nose. 

She should have changed into a pair of shorts and her sneakers before she'd left the airport, she thought, feeling sweat trickle down the center of her chest.  Her coral silk sleeveless blouse and pants were clinging to her skin after the long ride from the airport.

     Clutched by anxiety and the overwhelming desire to run, she made a beeline for the house before anyone recognized her.  With any luck she'd spot Mandy first and have a private meeting before barging in on her parents.  Odds were her mother at least was here already, having been the housekeeper at the Double T for more than fifteen years.

     The screen door slammed drawing her attention to the house.  There'd be less people inside on such a hot day.  Maybe she'd be able to find Mandy there before anyone spotted her.

Slipping past a group of blue-haired ladies tearing at a pitcher of iced tea under a low hanging cottonwood tree, Sara rushed up the brick path to the front door that faced the driveway.  As she approached, she heard the plaintive sound of a baby crying and the deep, almost groan of a male voice.  An extremely exasperated male voice.

The urgency of that voice had her bolting into the house without knocking.

The tall, dark-haired man pacing the living room, bouncing the baby was much too pre-occupied with trying to stop the baby from crying to notice her.  He had his broad back to her, but it couldn't possibly be Beau, Sara quickly decided.  She'd seen pictures of the wedding when Mandy had visited.  Even with his back turned, she knew he looked different.  And Mandy's baby wasn't due for at least another two or more months according to her last letter.

Dropping her purse on the oak end table, Sara advanced across the carpeted floor, thinking more about the poor infant than startling the man with her silent entry.

"Keep that up and you'll be smelling baby vomit on your boots for the next month," she said. 

The man swung around with the sound of her voice.  It wasn't Beau, but she did know the face.  She'd seen him before.  But she couldn't quite place where.

"Oh, thank God someone is here," he said, relief bursting to life in his sun-tanned face. 

His bright eyes were a deep sapphire blue with flecks of gold and gray that reminded Sara sunset and sunrise all in one.  Although his skin was indeed a bronze color from the long days he no doubt spent in the Texas sun, his nose was slightly red and peeling.  A testament to his fair skin.  Sweat lined his dark brows as they creased.

"They all left me alone.  He's been crying and I have no idea what to do." 

"Poor baby," she said, standing near enough to now stroke her finger across the baby's smooth cheek.

"Thanks."

"No, I meant the baby.  His mother should be brought up on charges for leaving this child with the likes of you."

The man heaved a sigh.  "At the moment, I couldn't agree with you more.  Do you know anything about babies?"

"I know it's not good to bounce him around so much.  It'll give him an upset stomach."

"He's been crying forever."

Sara rolled her eyes and couldn't help but smile.  A cowboy had the stomach for castrating a bull but some were so helpless when it came to babies.  She actually felt sorry for him.  "I'm sure it only seems that way."

"No, I swear.  And I don't know what he wants."

"If he's been crying a long time, he may have colic."

"Colic.  You mean like a horse?" he croaked.

Sara chuckled quietly at the horrified look her gave her, thinking how good it felt to do that after so long.  "Yeah, something like that."

The man gulped.  "Sometimes we have to put down horses with colic."

"Trust me, you're not going to have to do that to the baby.  When was the last time he had a bottle?"

He looked at her blankly.  "A bottle?" 

"Yeah, has he been fed?  You know, formula you put in a bottle to feed the baby?  At his age, you're not going to give him a slab of steak fresh off the grill.  Or maybe his mother is nursing?"

The man's broad shoulders sagged.  "Look, I know how to raise cows.  I'm an imbecile when it comes to a baby."

Sara quirked an eyebrow.  "So it seems." 

She reached out and rescued the baby from the man and stretched the baby belly down over the length of her arm, cooing to help soothe the baby.  With a practiced hand, she checked his diaper to find that it was still dry. 

"I take it this is not your baby."

His blue eyes grazed the baby and for a moment he looked a little lost himself.  With a sigh, he said, "Can you help me?"

Sara glanced around the living room, on the sofa and the floor in search of a diaper bag.  "See if there is a bottle in that diaper bag.  If there is, bring it into the kitchen."

Holding the baby with one arm, she took a stainless steel pan from the iron wrack above the stove and filled it with hot tap water.  The kitchen was filled with delicious smells of food that suddenly made her remember she hadn't eaten anything since that morning.

The man came into the kitchen rifling through the diaper bag until he pulled out a bottle filled with baby formula.  Taking it from his hands, she placed it in the pan to warm, glad that her time volunteering at the daycare center back in L.A. made her feel useful here and took her mind off her anxiety for the time being.

"Aren't you going to give the bottle to the baby?"

"How would you like to eat a cold steak for dinner?" she said softly, not wanting to jar the baby.  Although he was still crying, the sobs weren't as extreme.  After a few minutes she pulled the bottle from the water, tested it on her arm as she walked back into the living room.  She perched herself on the edge of the sofa and placed the nipple into the baby's mouth.  Immediately the infant took hold and started suckling. 

"Oh, thank God," the man said, running both hands over his head as silence filled the air.  "I thought he was never going to stop."

"He was just hungry.  That's all.  Babies can't skip meals like grownups can."

"You must have had a lot of practice doing this.  You're a natural."

"I know a thing or two about children."

"What did you do, raise all your brothers and sisters?"

"I volunteered at a daycare for a while."

 The man sat on the opposite end of the sofa and appeared to finally relax a little.  "Daycare, huh?  I'll have to remember that.  I'm eternally in your debt."

Sara tossed him a wry grin.  "That's a bit extreme, don't you think?  All I did was give him a bottle."

"You wouldn't say that if you'd been here the last half hour."

The More I See – Book 3

As a top-notch cutting horse trainer, Cody Gentry was riding high until he lost his eyesight after a freak chemical accident. Unable to see the hand in front of his face, never mind the horse or cattle he trained, he knows his life is over and slips deep into depression. His whole future hinges on the success of an eye surgery that could give him his old life back.

When guide dog trainer, Lyssa McElhannon, arrives on his ranch like Florence Nightingale coming to save him, he wants no part of her or her guide dog. But something about Lyssa’s musical laugh coupled with her tenacity digs under his skin and won't let go. Having been blind most of her life, Lyssa understands the paralyzing fear Cody feels after losing his vision. But she refuses to let the stubborn cowboy waste his life away sitting in a chair when she knows first-hand that a good guide dog can change his world. She just needs one month to prove it to him.

Falling in love with Cody was not part of Lyssa’s plan, nor was having him open her eyes to see that there was a whole lot of living she’d been missing out on.

# # #

COMING SPRING 2012:

Material Witness (A Romantic Thriller) by L.A. Mondello

Crime author Cassie Alvarez had murder on her mind when she walked into Rory's Bar under dressed and under cover to research her latest crime novel.  Researching the cool, blue-eyed and dashingly handsome man at the end of the bar stirred her senses more than she wanted to admit.  But was this man of leather armor all he appeared to be?

Playing White Knight to an innocent wasn't how Detective Jake Santos planned to spend his time under cover.  But there was no way "CJ" was what she claimed to be and that nagging tightness in Jake's chest told him he'd better take her home to safety before she got herself in trouble.  Then the barroom exploded with gunfire.  When the dust clears, an FBI agent is killed along with Providence’s most notorious crime boss. 

Cassie is the only material witness who can identify the shooter.  But when her name is leaked to the media as his only witness to the grisly murders, the FBI wants to protect their case at all cost.  Cassie insists she only trusts Jake to protect her.  He gives his word he'll protect her at all cost despite the fact that guarding the beautiful novelist is a serious distraction.  But can he keep from betraying her trust?

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